Amazon slams door on streaming video pirates

Problem with unencrypted Flash streams no longer a concern

It didn't take long, but the potential piracy problem affecting top video sites that we reported on at the weekend has already been fixed by at least one major player.

Amazon says it has shut the door on people looking to download its streaming videos for free by removing the unencrypted versions it had been offering and encrypting everything.

Some locked out

It had been hosting unencrypted files to satisfy the 15 per cent or so of web-connected PCs unable to handle DRM-protected video – they'll now have to look elsewhere.

The problem had been with video streamed to Adobe Flash players, leaving it open to copying by stream-catching software, when it was supposed to be locked up tight and fully under the control of the content provider.

Adobe told 'em so

Adobe had warned Amazon and others almost a month ago that they needed to make the move to full encryption if they wanted their video – and revenue – streams to be safe.